What Does Psalm 60:4 Mean?
You have given a lifted banner to those in awe of you, to be unfurled before the face of truth. Selah.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah.THE KEY
The banner and its raising share one root: awe receives a sign meant to be lifted where truth can be seen.
THE MEANING
Awe of God does not make you disappear; the verse gives a sign to those who stand in awe, raised where truth can be seen. It is a visible witness, not a hidden reassurance.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the belief that awe means vanishing from view: here, awe receives a sign lifted into sight.
THE ROOT
נֵס
nēs banner or
GROWS FROM
נסס
n-s-s
To raise or set up as a conspicuous signal.
“lifted banner” in this verse is nēs banner or. The verse places נֵס (nēs, banner) beside לְהִתְנוֹסֵס (lehitnoses, to be raised as a signal), words from the same root נסס (n-s-s, to raise as a signal). The banner and its display are one movement: the sign is given to be lifted into view, with truth before it.
ALSO GROWS
nēs: Banner, standard, or signal.
נֵס
This is the sign entrusted to those who stand in awe.
lehitnoses: To be raised as a standard or displayed.
לְהִתְנוֹסֵס
This verb follows נֵס (nēs, banner) in the verse, joining the sign to its being raised.
THE PATTERN
What is lifted as a visible sign gathers those who need direction toward life and truth.
And the LORD said to Moses, Make for yourself a burning serpent, and set it upon a pole. And it shall be, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks upon it, shall live.And in that day the root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; to him nations will seek, and his settling place will carry weight.And I, if I am lifted up from the ground, will draw all humankind to myself.THE THREAD
And in that day the root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; to him nations will seek, and his settling place will carry weight.Isaiah uses נֵס (nēs, banner or ensign) for the root of Jesse standing as a sign for the people. The shared word shows the banner in this psalm as a raised point of gathering, drawing people toward what it reveals.
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